Spector calls on games to drop cinema influences

Epic Mickey developer Warren Spector has called on the games industry to rely less on other mediums, especially cinema, for guidance on structure and narrative, according to an interview with Gamasutra.

He said, “Imitating other media seems to be a natural, maybe even necessary stage in every medium’s development. Building on a foundation provided by other media is pretty normal and natural.

“Culturally speaking, we share a lot with movies; movies were the medium of the 20th century that changed everything. It was the first time that everybody in the world could experience the same… cultural messages.”

However, the Deus Ex designer called on the industry to evolve beyond that state and leave behind some of the more restrictive aspects of other media, such as editing techniques that reveal plot to the audience but not to the character. He said, “We need to jettison some of those. It breaks the illusion; it wrests the experience away from players who want to be directors of their own experience. In most games the action is continuous… we either take control of the camera ourselves, or we leave control of the camera to the player.”

He added that games offer a unique perspective on narrative by giving the user a role in how it unfolds. He said, “There’s a point where we have to start looking at what makes us unique… we can transport players to worlds they can only imagine… We’re the only medium in history that responds to what players do. No one’s ever been able to do that.”

Related content from ZergNet

Uncharted is a prime example. While I can recognize why people like it I also think it is a bad game for other developers to try and emulate. I want to play my games. Not just move along a linear path filled with cutscenes and button mashing.